and Seven Years Ago
by comtria
Summary: Response to Rigelian Culture Fic-a-Thon. The crew makes it back to the Starcademy. Harlan and Suzee's extreme tension during the last year of their voyage and return of Catalina have strained the crew. Harlan returns to Earth to find it destroyed.
1. Chapter 1

This was not Earth.

This was the ruins of an empire. These were the strewn, nearly fossilized bodies of millions of terrestrial creatures, mangled into alien skeletons. This was an atmosphere hardly breathable to those who had not acclimated to it over a poisoned decade, eerie red smog drowsily weaving its way through ammonium clouds.

This was not the home he had left.

Harlan had nowhere to go, and even if he did, he had no way to get there. Just hours before the Christa had dropped him off at the Moon Colony port, where he was to catch a commercial shuttle back to his native Terra. But as he slid his passport chip, embedded with picture of a face seven years younger than his own, past the customs officer, as the computer bleeped the statistic that he had not set foot on Earth since...too long ago, the man gave him at once a stern and sympathetic look and uttered, "Destination Earth? You don't want to go back there."

Weary from having been only one of two Earthers among a Mercurian, Saturnian, Uranian, Martian, Andromedan, and Yensidian crew for so long, Harlan snatched back his passport chip angrily and sighed, "Oh, I want to go back. It's my home."

"You'd be wise to find a new home," the customs officer snarled. "You are aware we only shuttle to Earth on rescue or reunion missions?"

"This is a reunion," Harlan insisted. "And why does the Moon suddenly have something against transporting people to Earth? The last I knew they were close allies. Did some other planet try to take over our satellite again?"

"Have you entirely missed out on the last several years of Sol System history?" The customs officer raised one eyebrow. "Or are you just blissfully ignorant?"

"Hey, that's no way to talk to someone who's been stranded in space for seven years," Harlan retorted. "And actually, yes, I have missed out on a lot. Our vessel has been slowly degrading over the last seven years, ever since we went through a white circle and ended up halfway across the universe. But I need to get back to Earth so I can find my family and they can watch me get my honorary degree at the Starcademy."

"The Starcademy?" the officer repeated. "Is your family associated with the Starcademy?"

"My father was a Stardog," said Harlan, "but he's been dead since before I left."

"I don't know if you'll have any luck finding any survivors of Starcademy family members." The customs officer's voice softened. "I hate to break it to you, but Earth has undergone quite a few wars since you left it, and you won't find it to be a home. The far reaches of space would feel much more secure a shelter to me at a time like this."

"What do you mean?" Harlan asked. His heart suddenly began racing, and his forehead became hot and broke out into a sweat. He felt as if he suddenly had to swallow a horror darker than than any he had ever dreamed. All these years he had imagined what it would be like to step back on Earth for the first time, to inhale the familiar air and take in the sights. And now he had to face the consequences of a war, again? "A war with who?" he asked.

The customs officer sighed. "A war between the two hemispheres. Earth is divided between East Terra and West Terra. East Terra tried to declare independence from West Terra nearly five years ago, and their rebellion failed miserably. But they managed to kill a lot of people. The war only ended eight months ago, and that was only because both sides ran out of resources completely. Now everyone's just doing the best they can to survive. Most of West Terra fled here, to the Moon, or to the Mars Colony. East Terra went after the most prominent scientists and explorers first. They were convinced everything they said was wrong. They didn't want to form alliances with new planets because they felt the culture of the Sol System, and the culture of Earth, would be in danger. Our greatest minds perished long ago. If you go back there, I don't know if you stand a chance."

Harlan felt something blocking his throat, and he was afraid to blink for the hot liquid filming his eyes. "I don't understand," he said.

"It's difficult to understand." The customs officer lowered his gaze to the ground. "I don't know how they intend to fix it. I truly don't."

Harlan let out a ragged breath and gritted his teeth. "I want to see it anyway," he said. "It's my home."

"Listen," said the customs officer, "I'll have to let you go if you insist, and I'll even arrange for you to come back. We have an air drop scheduled to take place in three days, and sometimes they land to collect survivors and bring them back here. But I can't promise you that you'll find what you're looking for."

"I understand," said Harlan.

Only hours ago he had been on Saturn's moon Titan, his first visit to an outer planet. It was stunning. The sun refracted warm rainbow rays off of the planet's icy rings, and when the sun set, the horizon glowed colors Harlan had never seen before. He had insisted on accompanying Catalina back to her home, and they had spent two wonderful Saturnian hours wandering her childhood streets and eating local delicacies. A friendliness Harlan had never experienced on Earth encompassed everything.

It had been a magical two hours.

The Christa had finally made its way back to the Sol System after a journey through the unpredictable void of space. Its engines made a grunting sound as they churned slowly, indicating that the ship would soon be out of commission. It had slowed down significantly in the past several months, especially in the last year, after Suzee performed a complicated feat harnessing all the power in the hyper-drive to pull Catalina back from her dimension and onto the Christa. It was a risky maneuver, but Catalina had begun to succumb to illness after the atmosphere on Yensid dramatically changed, as it did every few rotations. The native Yensidians had no problems with this atmospheric change, but Catalina, lacking gills, fell ill with symptoms the Yensidians, having never encountered this problem themselves, had no idea how to treat.

Catalina had been the Christa crew's only portal back to somewhere like home, and even her connection with them was faulty. She could only communicate with Suzee on rare occasions, especially when she was in distress. She had evened out the male to female ratio on the Christa and brought a refreshed perspective to the crew, having been in an unfamiliar dimension for five years and now ready to be back in space for awhile. Catalina had also enrolled in Suzee's former school on Yensid and educated herself about useful things that the rest of the crew found invaluable. Harlan didn't know how he would have survived the antsy waiting period of that last year without her.

Commander Goddard suggested the Christa drop Bova, Catalina, Harlan and Rosie off on their home planets before returning to the Starcademy. The entire student crew, as well as Suzee, would be granted honorary degrees from the Starcademy for their extended "field study", demonstrating mastery of the perils of space travel. Commander Goddard, in his last successful communication with the Starcademy nearly five years before, had arranged this, and he knew the Starcademy would keep their word. The students would spend a week on their home planets before bringing their families back to the Starcademy for their private graduation ceremony. Radu, Suzee, Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard would go straight back to the Starcademy to announce the return of the Christa and arrange for the ceremony.

A few hours after dropping Bova off on Umbriel, the remaining crew watched the rings of Saturn come into view, and Catalina beamed with excitement. "It's prettier than I remembered it," she squealed.

"Hey, Cat," said Harlan, "what if I come with you? I'd really like to escort you back to Titan."

Catalina looked at Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport. "Would you let him do that?"

Commander Goddard shrugged. "I don't see why not. We could dock on Titan and let the engines rest for a bit. It might be good for the ship. Wouldn't it, Suzee?"

Suzee's eyes flitted to Harlan. "Yeah," she said. "I think it would be." She turned back to her Compupad.

The Christa eased its way onto Titan's docking bay and Harlan and Catalina climbed through the air bridge and into Titan's space port. Harlan looked around at the unfamiliar, yet charming, metallic magenta walls and teal spirals that hung like mobiles from the ceiling. A sign proclaimed "Saturn Welcomes You - Za Ba Ga Be!" in a flourish of fancy script. The floor was made up of tiles that shifted from red, to orange, to yellow, to the rest of the colors of the rainbow every few seconds. Everything was streamlined, but somehow felt comforting, as well. Catalina and Harlan slid their passport chips through the slits in the "stomachs" of the customs androids, who asked them if they had anything to declare. "Just that I'm home!" declared Catalina. Harlan smiled at her.

The two got into an air rail ship and Harlan watched the rocky landscape whiz by, the multicolored rays of the sunshine turning the mountains into shining monuments. "We get off here," Catalina whispered to him a few minutes later, and they quickly climbed out of the ship just before it zoomed off. They took an elevator down to the exit, and Harlan was greeted by a sweet scent he'd never smelled before. It reminded him of when his mother used to scrub him in the bath as a little kid, for some reason, light and clean, and he breathed it in nostalgically.

"What's that scent from?" Harlan asked Catalina.

"What?" she asked. "That's just how the air smells."

"But it's not like Earth's smell," said Harlan. She shrugged. "I mean, it doesn't smell like that on the Christa, either."

"It could be from the blossomer," said Catalina, pointing to a nearby tree, which had a bright red bark and was hung by a fluffy web of blue pom-poms, which almost looked like an ancient Earth food Harlan had once seen in an educational film, called cotton candy. "Those trees oxygenate Titan. We don't think they smell like anything. But I guess they do to you."

"Interesting," said Harlan.

Catalina led him down the street, past a myriad of houses, all of different colors, that were made of the same metal as the space port walls. They came to Catalina's house, which was orange, and had an orange blossomer tree with a navy bark in the front yard. Catalina looked at her Compupad before opening the door. "My guardians are probably at work right now," she told Harlan.

She led him inside her house and up to her room. Her walls were painted in rainbow stripes and her bed had a reversible orange and yellow metallic comforter with red sheets and blue and purple pillows. "Does everyone on Titan decorate their houses like this?" Harlan asked.

Catalina groaned in a friendly manner. "We Saturnians see color differently than you do, Harlan. To us monochrome is boring. It almost hurt my vision to look at the grey walls of the Starcademy every day. That's probably why I almost failed out. This is just normal to us."

"Well, it's pretty," said Harlan.

"Do you want to see one of my favorite places?" Catalina asked. "It's just down the street. It's a park. It should be gorgeous this time of year."

She led him outside, where he had to blink several times to stop his eyes from unfocusing. He had to wonder if it would be possible for him to get used to all these colors like Catalina had to get used to the lack of color at the Starcademy. A few blocks away Harlan saw an enormous triangular prism rising into the sky, and surrounding it was a pond reflecting the sun's rainbow colors. Animals the likes of which Harlan had never seen before grazed around the pond. "Wow," he breathed. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"I always used to come here when I needed cheering up," said Catalina. "It always worked."

They sat in the park, talking and laughing, until that glorious sunset that Harlan would always keep in his memory. Then they walked, slowly, back to Catalina's house. Her guardians weren't home yet, but they would be soon.

"It was an amazing afternoon," Harlan told Catalina as they arrived at her doorstep. "Thanks for letting me come with you."

"It was no problem." Catalina smiled.

"Hey, have you ever been to Earth?" Harlan asked her. "Weren't your parents diplomats?"

"Yeah, we went to Earth, a couple of times," said Catalina, "but I was much younger."

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

"We went to Catalina," she laughed. "Off of California. It was beautiful."

"Yeah? Maybe you'd like to visit me there sometime."

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe," said Catalina.

"Well," said Harlan, and took a deep breath. A giddy sensation bubbled up inside him, spreading from his stomach to his throat, and all the way down to his toes. Catalina was smiling at him, and she looked so pretty in the light of the sunset, and the scent of blossomer filled the air. He slowly leaned forward and drew his face toward hers.

"Harlan," said Catalina sternly, backing away, "no."

Harlan withdrew and looked her in the eyes. "Why not?" he asked softly.

"We can't do this," she said, and her voice sounded far away, wobbly and hollow. "Harlan, I'm sorry, we can't."

"I just thought..." Harlan's voice trailed off. He didn't know what he thought. He shook his head. "Cat, if it's about the distance, if it's because you think there's some external factor-"

"It isn't," said Catalina.

"Oh." Harlan tentatively reached out his hand and lightly touched her shoulder. "I'll see you at the Starcademy."

Catalina stepped forward and drew Harlan into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Let's keep in touch," she murmured.

It felt like hours before Catalina released her grip on Harlan. He hadn't hugged her back. He couldn't make himself put his arms around her. They felt stiff and heavy, and his heart was empty. "Goodbye, Cat."

"See you," she said, stepping back into her house and closing the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Misfits

Back on the Christa, Miss Davenport was attempting to get a signal to the Starcademy. "Suzee," she called, turned around to see only Thelma standing behind her. "Thelma," said said, "where is the rest of the crew?"

"I do not know, Miss Davenport," said Thelma in the shaky voice she had acquired in the last few months. "I have not seen any of them since we docked on Titan."

"This is ridiculous!" Miss Davenport cried. "At an important time like this they've all gone off to do who knows what. COMMANDER GODDARD!"

Commander Goddard appeared at the mouth of the jump tube. "Did you call me?"

"Yes, I called you. Where is the rest of our crew?" Miss Davenport demanded, angrily pressing random controls at the helm, which she knew would do her no good.

"Relax, TJ," Commander Goddard said, "I sent them all packing."

"Packing?" Miss Davenport spat. "What in space are you talking about? They've hardly got any things on board!"

"Souvenirs," the Commander explained. "Objects they've picked up from other planets. Mementos. Things they've scavenged on the Christa."

"Nonsense," said Miss Davenport. "It is extremely unprofessional that you even allowed them to bring some of that matter on board, commander. You've grown soft in your age."

Commander Goddard ran a hand through his silver hair. "Maybe I have," he said.

Rosie and Radu were nimbly picking seeds out of some of the flowers in the green room. "Mercury has the perfect temperature to grow solar flowers even bigger than these," Rosie gushed.

Radu pulled a giant squash-like plant loose from a tangle of vines. "I haven't seen anything like this before," he said. "It might be worth it to preserve."

"Oh, Radu, don't. I've got a packet of seeds I collected from that plant in my bunk," said Rosie. "If you uproot it it'll just die."

Radu sighed. "All right."

"Come on, I'll show you the seeds." Rosie took Radu's gloved hand in her own and led him into the girls' bunk room to her neatly made bed. She rummaged around in the backpack she had begun to fill and brought out two small bags of seeds.

"What do you want to do when you get back?" Radu asked, absent-mindedly wandering toward the middle of the room. He picked up a minbar chess piece sitting on the table and twirled it between his fingers.

"I want to be a doctor," said Rosie. "I've wanted to be one for a long time. I want to help people. I think a lot of the things we've discovered on our journey, things whose purpose we have no idea about now, could lead to all sorts of discoveries in the future."

"Yeah?" said Radu. "I've always found that stuff so confusing."

"What do you want to do?" Rosie asked, sitting on her bunk.

Radu shook his head. "I don't know."

"Do you think you'll go back to Andromeda ever?"

He shuffled back toward Rosie and picked up the seed packets, staring at the tiny pods carefully. "It would be hard," he said, "when I'm so used to being in space. I've always kind of been a misfit, but at least here I'm just one among many." He forced a chuckle.

"I kind of feel like the Christa is home, too," Rosie confessed. "You know, I was a misfit back on Mercury, too."

"Really?" Radu peered at the always-beaming Rosie, scrutinizing her. Her expression let on nothing.

"Well," said Rosie, "I wanted something more than just to be content with life. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Mercury, and I love the opportunities I have there. But I always thought there was something else out there that was worth being explored, even if it was a little scary."

"Yeah," said Radu, "yeah, it's like, even though Andromedans haven't been enslaved for a few generations, I always felt somehow tied down by staying around. Everyone always had to bring up the slavery thing, like how we had to avoid it again. They couldn't just focus on moving on with their lives."

"That's too bad," said Rosie. "You have so much potential."

"But we still almost flunked out of the Starcademy the first time around," Radu pointed out.

"At least we risked it, though." Rosie looked up at Radu. "Maybe we have more in common than we think."

"Maybe," said Radu.

They both stared at each other for a moment. Then Rosie tilted her head and chirped, "What are you thinking, Radu?"

A thousand thoughts were racing through Radu's head. He couldn't put them into words. It had never occurred to him before, but suddenly it seemed so obvious, and if not now, then when? And why not? It was Rosie, the one who always liked everyone, who couldn't possibly hold anything against him-

Rosie saw Radu's conflicted eyes flickering over her and said, slightly concerned, "Radu?"

Radu leaned into Rosie, put his hand on the back of her neck, closed his eyes, and let his lips find her mouth. For a moment his tongue searched her lips awkwardly, and then he felt her open her mouth and slowly feel him out. Their lips found each other and Rosie's hand pressed warmly against Radu's back. After a moment they pulled apart, both a bit shocked.

Rosie's face glowed brighter as she gasped out, "Radu! That - that was my first kiss."

"Was it good enough for a second?" Radu asked.

Rosie giggled and they kissed again, this time longer than the first. Then Radu hopped onto Rosie's bunk and they sat there, scrutinizing each other.

"Maybe I'll check out Mercury," Radu all but whispered.

...

Harlan marched back on board and Miss Davenport immediately seized him, commanding him to figure out a way for the Christa to transmit a signal back to the Starcademy.

"Won't you be there soon enough?" he asked, trudging past her.

"Mr. Band!" Miss Davenport called after him. When he didn't turn around, she began marching after him.

Commander Goddard placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let him go," he said.

Harlan found Suzee in the engine room, wandering around and tinkering with things every now and again. "Hey," he said.

"How was Saturn?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the ceiling.

"Okay. I'm surprised you didn't want to come along. You love seeing new places, especially since it's your best friend's home." Maybe having Suzee with him would have stopped him from doing something stupid.

"Yeah. Well." Suzee shrugged.

"Are you okay?" Harlan asked, looking at the spot where she was staring and seeing nothing.

Suzee tore her gaze away from the ceiling and looked at Harlan, but her eyes were unfocused. "I think I'm going to miss this place," she said.

"Well, it is thanks to you that it's been able to function at all these last few months." Harlan placed a hand on Suzee's shoulder, which she shrugged off, tilting her head toward the ceiling again. "It's kind of like your project now."

"I wonder what'll happen to her when we're not her crew anymore," Suzee mused.

"Hey, Suzee." Harlan turned Suzee around to face him. "You didn't tell Cat about us, did you?"

Suzee rolled her eyes. "No, Harlan. We may be on the same wavelength, but I think I know how not to cross the line."

"You know, it kind of seems like the female population of this ship is against me." Harlan put his hands on his hips, challenging Suzee.

"Even Thelma?" Suzee teased.

"Ha ha," said Harlan. "No, I mean it. You, Miss Davenport, Catalina, hey, I don't even think Rosie likes me. What's up with all of you?"

"Someone's a little paranoid."

"Stop avoiding my question."

"I'm not avoiding it. It's a habit of mine to not answer stupid questions." Suzee pretended to find a flaw in the prism and stared at it intently. "Besides, what have I done to you anyway? We've hardly spoken to each other since Cat came back."

"Exactly. I just want a little closure. Is that too much to ask?"

"There will be no closure because there's nothing to close," Suzee said as calmly as she could, her voice rising slightly. "Why don't you go pack, Harlan? There must be something on this ship besides Catalina that you want to take home with you."

"Oh-ho, is that it?" Harlan laughed. "You're jealous? You think that's the reason I wanted to visit Saturn?"

"Hey, it's none of my business."

"Oh boy. If you weren't looking for a fight, you were barking up the wrong tree," Harlan warned.

Suzee took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When that didn't stop the burning in her chest she exhaled as loudly as possible.

"Getting a bit worked up, Suzee?"

Suzee decided the best course possible was to keep her mouth closed. But her body rebelled. She found herself picking up a spare crystal and shattering it as hard against the wall as possible.

"What's wrong, Suzee?" Harlan asked mockingly.

"The...the thing...it...broke...I'm...I'm not angry, I just...I want it to work...AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Suzee screamed involuntarily, sending Harlan diving to the floor. He had never heard her scream before and didn't realize that she, too, possessed sonic screaming abilities, although due to lack of practice wasn't nearly as loud as Catalina could be. She stood there, panting, wondering if she could restrain herself from strangling Harlan.

Harlan timidly rose from the floor and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was being a jerk."

"We had an agreement," Suzee said icily. "Friends, remember? Which is the opposite of enemies, unless I'm mistaken."

"I'm not going to try to come up with an excuse. I was wrong. All right?"

"Just stop. We'll be at Earth soon enough. Go get ready. I mean it. If you don't say your proper goodbyes, you might find yourself missing the Christa more than you could imagine."

And he did. More than he could imagine, he wished to be in his comfortable bunk, seven years ago, or even seven days ago, before he knew that he would return to a broken world. He didn't have the heart to trudge through the piles of filth and debris. He wanted more than ever to hold his mother in his arms, or just someone to confide in. Anything but here. Anything but being homeless. And he had finally returned home.

Why did it have to be Earth that fell apart?

He had three days in this shambles of a place to sort things out. For the first time in his life Harlan fell to his knees on the ground and sobbed, not caring if anyone saw him.


	3. Chapter 3: Degrees of Romance

Harlan returned to the Starcademy four days before his companions. He refused to tell Suzee, Radu, the Commander and Miss Davenport why he had come back early, or why his parents weren't with him. Radu was obviously concerned and kept gently prodding Harlan for information, but Harlan would just retreat to his dorm room. He had seen more in those three days than he had intended, and he wanted to forget them all. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up. As he lay in bed he imagined himself in his own private space shuttle, gently being rocked through clouds of stars and emptiness, forever.

The graduation ceremony took place as planned. Each of the honorary graduates gave a speech. Suzee announced that the Starcademy had offered her a permanent position, teaching engineering classes. Rosie had already begun an internship at a hospital on Mercury. Bova was thankful that his mother had cooked him his favorite meals seven days in a row. Radu would begin an apprenticeship with Commander Goddard, training to go on rescue missions. Catalina had decided to become a safety equipment designer.

When it was his turn, Harlan gripped the podium and opened his mouth. Then he shut it again and thought for a moment. "I was going to give a speech on teamwork," he said, "and how we all managed to work together even though we're so different from each other. But today I want to talk about a real hero. My father. He followed his dreams and he tried to pave the way for me to follow my dreams, too. But unfortunately he found out, and so did I, that it's more difficult to overcome differences than some stupid group of kids makes it out to be."

Dalia and Gunter Ianni clapped heartily, but Rosie placed a stern hand on her father's arm. Harlan stepped down from the podium and went back to his room.

A few hours later he heard a knock on his door. "What?" he called.

"Hey, it's Catalina."

Harlan shuffled to the door and opened it. He leaned his head against the doorframe, realizing he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat all day. "Hey," he said wearily.

"Hey, do you want to join us at the bar for a drink?" Catalina asked, smiling too broadly. "We could talk."

"Yeah, okay." Harlan went back to his bed and threw on his jacket, then followed Catalina to the Starcademy canteen, where he had always wished he was old enough to visit when he was a student. Rosie, Radu and Suzee were sitting at a booth, chatting, and Bova and his parents were at another booth, eating peanuts. Harlan and Catalina sat at the bar, and Catalina ordered two drinks.

"We were all pretty confused about your speech today," she said.

Harlan shook his head sadly. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have said all those things. I was upset."

"What's up?" Catalina asked.

Harlan scanned her eyes for a knowing sign. Hadn't she heard anything about the devastation of Earth? Or did other planets not care? Or did they find it inevitable? "Everything's gone," he said as the drinks arrived. He had no idea what they were, some sort of blue-green cocktail, but he took a long sip of his before continuing, "Earth's been completely devastated by a war. It's all over, Cat. I don't have anywhere to go back to."

Catalina gasped. "And your parents?"

Harlan shrugged. "Gone. Just gone. Don't ask me where. I don't even know if I'd want to find them - what remains of them."

Catalina put her arm around Harlan's shoulder and put her head on his chest. "I wish there were something I could do. You know, when my parents died-"

"Cat," said Harlan.

Catalina backed away. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about it. I know."

"No, maybe it would help to talk it through. I know it was a long time ago for you, but I know you must still think about them. I mean, I miss my dad so much. And now my mom's gone. And my stepdad. And my planet." Harlan started on his second drink.

"It was pretty hard for me." Catalina lowered her head. "They did so much for me. I could just tell how much they loved me. But I felt like I never gave back to them. I know that's stupid because I was just a kid, but I look back at home ungrateful I was and how much I took advantage of them."

"That's kind of how I felt when you disappeared," said Harlan. Noticing Catalina's drink was empty, he waved at the bar android to replace it. "Like we had all taken advantage of you, and then you were just gone."

"Yeah, but you got Suzee." Catalina smiled slyly. "She was the real genius."

"But she's not the same."

They told each other everything about their entire lives, it seemed. As they drank more and more, the hours whirled by. Rosie and Radu slunk off, and Suzee followed them, glancing back at the bar but barely catching Harlan's eyes before she retreated to her own room. Bova and his family had stumbled out of the canteen to sleep off their food consumption. Still Harlan and Catalina kept talking until their throats were so dry they could hardly say a word.

Harlan finished his - seventh, eighth? - he had lost count - drink and set down his glass. "Oh, man," he moaned, "I don't think I should drink anymore." He waved his hand in front of Catalina's face. He couldn't tell how many fingers he had.

Catalina laughed. "You have six eyes, Harlan. Six! Six eyes! That's a lot of eyes!" she slurred.

"We need to go to bed," Harlan yelled, and then laughed at how loud his voice had turned out. He hopped down from the bar stool and then grabbed Catalina's hand and helped her to the ground. They stumbled out to the hallway.

"Wait," said Catalina, "I don't remember where my room was."

"What?"

"I don't know!" Catalina laughed so hard she almost screamed. "Oh, Grozit, it could be anywhere. Aha ha ha ha."

"Come back to my room," said Harlan, taking his hand and pulling her down the hallway. "It's just a few doors away."

"Okay," said Catalina drowsily.

Catalina removed her shoes and climbed into Harlan's bed. He climbed into the other side.

"Cat," he said, looking her in the eyes, "my life sucks. But you're so pretty."

"I know," said Catalina, flashing him a lopsided grin. "I mean, you. No. I'm the one who's pretty. No. But you, you're so cute, you really are, Harlan, you kind of..."

Harlan kissed her hard on the lips. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into her, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. He lay back on the bed and pulled her on top of him, desperately sliding his tongue in and out of her mouth. He was so dizzy. Her hands scrambled over his face. He couldn't feel anything except for her sweet mouth against his. "Hrln," she said, smooshed up against his cheek. She pulled away for a second. "Oh, ha, ha ha, ha ha ha," she squealed, "your - your tongue - it's blue! Ahahahaha, Harlan! Harlan, it's blue!"

He sat up and pulled her into him again. He wanted to be inside of her. He felt inside her mouth until he found the back of her tongue and swept it onto his. This was infinity. There could never be enough. He grabbed for her waist and she playfully swatted at his hands. Their wrists tangled up in each other and their lips kept coming together and pulling apart, over and over. Please, please, Harlan thought, just let this last forever, just somehow, forever, please. He turned her onto her back and suddenly felt an explosion in his head. He fell back against his own pillow and closed her eyes, putting his hand to his head. Catalina snuggled into him. "Isn't this nice?" she whispered, and rubbed his shoulder. "Mm, Harlan, you're so nice."

The headache had begun to fade and the urge for sleep replaced it. "Yeah," said Harlan, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah. I'm nice."

...

Harlan woke up to a dull chirping that grew louder and louder. It was Catalina's Compupad alarm, sitting next to his head. He punched it off and slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Cat," he said, nudging Catalina, who was breathing deeply next to him.

"Wha-?" She opened her eyes and sat up, then looked at him. "Oh. No," she moaned.

"Hey, Cat, what happened last night?"

Catalina frantically pulled back the sheets, patting herself down, checking to see if her clothes were intact. "I don't think we-"

"No." Harlan shook his head. "No, we didn't. We were too drunk."

"Yeah, we were wasted," Catalina clarified. "How did I get in here?"

Harlan's face fell. "You don't remember anything?"

"Just bits and pieces." Catalina rubbed at her forehead. Then her eyes lit up. "We kissed, didn't we?"

Harlan nodded. "I don't think that part was a dream."

"Uh, weird," said Catalina.

"Was it that weird?"

"Maybe not at the time."

"It was actually pretty good."

Catalina stumbled out of bed and stepped into her shoes. "I don't remember, Harlan," she sighed. "I just know I won't be drinking tonight."

"All right, I get it," Harlan said angrily, not moving from his spot on the bed as he watched Catalina disappear behind the bathroom door and heard her splash water on her face.

She peaked back into his room. "I'm not insulting you. I'm sure it was. I honestly don't remember." She filled a glass with water and came back into Harlan's room. "Here, you should drink this. I bet you're really dehydrated after drinking so much." She held the glass out to him but he grabbed her wrist and lurched out of bed, shoving her against the wall. The water spilled everywhere as Catalina's arms tensed up and she dropped the glass. "Harlan!" she cried, terrified.

"Why the hell won't you tell me why you don't want to be with me? Is there something wrong with me?" he roared, pushing her back harder into the wall.

"Harlan, please, stop." She tried to squirm out of his grasp but he dug his fingertips into her skin. "I know you're angry, Harlan, but you're not thinking. You're in mourning. You need to give it time."

"I just want to hear the truth! What do you have against me?"

"I don't have anything against you! Why would you think that?" Catalina's voice was the pitch of a violin. She was afraid to breathe.

"Because I thought you liked me! I thought we had something going." He loosened his grip on her arms and scrunched up his face. His plea came out a wail. "I don't have anywhere to go, Cat. I have nothing to go back to."

"I know. I know," she soothed, and stroked his face with one finger. "It's so hard, Harlan. I know. Please don't take it out on me. It'll just make it worse for you."

"Why did you have to kiss me last night?" he whined. "Why would you do that to me?"

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

"Everything's a mistake. A huge mistake. Going home was a mistake. I wish we were still lost in space." Harlan turned away from her and sat on his bed, trying to catch his breath.

"No," said Catalina. "You're going to do something amazing with your life, Harlan."

"How would you know? I'm such a screw-up. Hell, we are all. But I'm the only loser who spends all his time feeling sorry for himself. I put on a brave face but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just boss people around because of my own insecurities. Who does that?"

"We all saw you as our leader," said Catalina, inching toward the door. "Even if you didn't feel brave, you were. You made the rest of us feel secure. You took control. Don't underestimate yourself."

"Yet I'm still not good enough for you."

"Harlan, why do you keep going back to this? I'm just one person. There are so many other people out there."

Harlan rose from the bed and walked toward Catalina. She flinched, but he pulled her into a light embrace. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"I was on Yensid for five years," she said. "That's a long time."

"Are you saying you had someone there?"

Catalina looked down at the floor. "I had to start my life over. It's hard on all of us. I can't ever go back there again, either."

"Cat, I acted inappropriately-"

Catalina backed away from him slowly. "You really need to face your problems. For your own good. I care about you, Harlan, and I don't want to see you destroy yourself from the inside." She opened the door to the hallway. "Let's go to breakfast."


	4. Chapter 4: Sex

Radu and Rosie sat down to breakfast together. Bova stared at them, wide-eyed, over his plate of scrambled eggs. Breakfast had begun fifteen minutes ago. "Where were you two?" he asked.

Rosie giggled and looked at Radu. He looked back at her and smiled shyly. "Sorry," Rosie shrugged cheerfully. "I guess we just got lost on the way to breakfast."

Harlan picked at his food and stared at Rosie and Radu, who kept staring at each other, all through breakfast. Suzee and Catalina ate in silence as Rosie tried to make polite conversation. Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard were nowhere to be seen.

"Can we talk?" Catalina asked Suzee after everyone had finished eating.

Suzee noticed the concerned look on Catalina's face. "Yeah, sure. Do you want to go to my room?"

Catalina remembered that she still didn't know where her own room was. "Yeah," she said.

Once they were both settled on Suzee's bed, Catalina blurted out, "Harlan and I kissed last night."

Suzee raised one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"We were drunk. It was an accident. But I think I hurt him. I guess he thinks I was leading him on."

Suzee rolled her eyes. "Yep, that's Harlan for you."

"I think he needs to talk to someone, Suzee," said Catalina. "I'm really concerned about him."

"Well, this isn't the first time he's acted this way," said Suzee.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Cat. You must have seen how awkward it was between us on the Christa."

"I thought it had always been like that between you two," said Catalina. "Harlan and I were always competing with each other and you're even smarter, so I thought there was a rivalry between you two."

"Oh," said Suzee. "Yeah. About that. I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but since we're on the subject, Harlan and I had a fling a few years ago."

"Whoa. Wait. Seriously?" Catalina stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Yeah, we kept it all hush-hush. It stopped around the time we got you back. It was pretty intense."

...

It started in the lounge. The cadets were all watching a movie, an import from a strange planet that the Lumanians had uploaded into the ship's memory. Suzee had figured out a way to run download through Thelma, who subtitled the film, and everyone laughed at the unfamiliar aliens and their awkward dialog.

When the film was over Suzee suggest they watch another one, but everyone decided to retreat to their room except for Harlan. As Suzee started the film and settled in next to Harlan, he asked, "Hey, you said you could project your mind into any image. Could you project it into one of the characters in the movie?"

"I don't know," said Suzee. "I've never tried it on something that wasn't a real-time image. I'm kind of afraid of what would happen if I did."

"So everyone back in your dimension has this power?" Harlan rested his head on his hand and turned to face Suzee.

"Yeah, it's something we're born with."

"Then what does everyone use it for?" Harlan wanted to know.

"Well," Suzee took her eyes from the screen, "we're only supposed to use it in the most desperate of situations, like if someone appears to be unconscious and can't say what's wrong with them, we can go into their mind and see what happened to them. Or if it's consensual."

"Like when?" Harlan asked. "When would someone want you to go into their mind?"

Suzee looked down and smiled shyly. "I guess some people think it enhances their, uh, intimate experiences. Like they can feel what their partner is feeling."

"Strange." Harlan shook his head.

Suddenly the movie cut out and the screen went blank. "Hm," said Suzee, "there must have been some error in the file." She clicked the hologram projection off and stood up. "Well, good night, Harlan."

Harlan stood and faced Suzee, standing just inches from her. "Good night," he said, but suddenly he was kissing her. She kissed him back. Her fingers felt like electrical bolts, like she had been removed from time and planted into another place that had no floor, just energy.

They stumbled onto the couch and Suzee felt Harlan unbutton her shirt. Soon they were both in their underwear somehow. Where was the time going? Harlan drew his hand over Suzee's shape and she shivered under his touch. He was breathing so heavily she could feel his wet breath on her when he leaned in for another kiss.

"Suzee...are you okay with this?" he panted, suddenly seeming to realize where he was and just what he was doing as his mind rushed back into his body from somewhere far away.

"I think so," she said.

They sat there for a second, looking at each other, before Harlan removed the rest of his clothes. Suzee removed her own. She reached out her hand and touched Harlan. His skin was so smooth, his chest muscular. She felt herself getting warm.

Harlan reached under the couch cushions and brought out a small square packet. "I knew these would come in handy," he snickered.

Suzee almost choked trying not to laugh. "Where did you get that?"

"Earth," said Harlan smugly, tearing it open. He pulled Suzee toward him and closed his eyes. "I've been waiting for this for so long." He ran his hands down her arms. "You're so beautiful."

She pressed against him. He could feel her heart beating hard against his chest. "Hey," he said, tilting her chin towards him and looking her in the eyes. "You've done this before, right?"

"Well," said Suzee, "not exactly. Have you?"

"Uh, yeah. Of course. Maybe."

Suzee took a deep breath and Harlan followed suit. "Tell me if you want me to stop."

Suzee stroked his chest. "It's okay."

He slowly climbed on top of her. She could feel his legs shaking. She closed her eyes and gripped the edges of the couch, steeling herself. She cried out when she first felt him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No, no, keep going." She dug her nails harder into the couch. Her breath came out in short gasps. But then she felt herself being lifted, as if she were going to burst or float away. She heard Harlan's panting and she started moving with him. He opened his eyes and stared down at her, and she stared back. As he breathed harder and harder she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down toward her. His skin had grown slick with sweat. It was over too fast.

They drew apart and Suzee brought her nose to Harlan's neck and drew in his scent. "Yeah," he whispered to her, "that was good. That was good."

They found themselves sneaking off together several times a week. In the engine room, the green room, anywhere they couldn't be caught. They started focusing less attention on each other during the day and spending all their pent-up energy on each other at night. After awhile, when Suzee found her mind wasn't present while trying to work on the ship, she decided to confront Harlan.

"Hey, we're just friends, right?" she asked him one day as they were playing minbar chess together, waiting for the rest of the crew to go their separate ways.

"What do you mean?" Harlan asked, moving one of his figures.

"I mean we're not dating or anything, right? We're just casual."

"Yeah, of course," said Harlan. "Right. We're just friends. We're just friends who are bored and have nothing better to do out in the middle of space."

"Right," Suzee agreed.

But things seemed to get worse from there. The other cadets noticed that Harlan and Suzee pulled their gaze away from each other if one happened to catch the other's eye. Harlan seemed even more defiant than usual, and Suzee withdrew from everyone.

"So I had to tell him it was over," Suzee concluded. "But ever since then it's really kind of sucked. I thought I was finally getting used to my new home in space, but I couldn't focus on anything anymore. And what's worse is that everyone else seemed to blame Harlan. They thought he was trying to edge me out because I knew more than he did."

"So the two of you still haven't resolved it?" Catalina asked.

"No. We've barely spoken to each other at all. I think a big part of the reason the Christa was functioning so poorly was-" Suzee averted her gaze from Catalina "-that Harlan and I kind of let it. I didn't bother to check things properly anymore, and he tried to show off with all these fancy maneuvers that I didn't know if we were capable of performing. I feel bad that I could have compromised the rest of the crew now, but at the time I didn't care. I'm glad you came along when you did."

"I had no idea about any of this," said Catalina.

"Neither did anyone else," said Suzee. "It was so stupid."

"I guess I was focused on myself a little too much. I didn't really tell you much about my life on Yensid, did I?"

"I figured you would be missing something about," Suzee reasoned. "But I also thought you sensed the tension and were afraid. I'm sorry if I've come off as cold."

"No, no," said Catalina. "You're my best friend, Suzee. I knew you were hurting. Maybe I didn't know exactly why, but I understood."


	5. Chapter 5: War Torn

"Hey, man, what's going on?" Harlan asked Radu, whom he had run into in the hallway. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I just, I thought I'd take a little walk." The Andromedan shuffled his feet. "What about you?"

"Do you know where Catalina's room is?" Harlan asked.

"No."

"Well, could you help me find it? Aren't you supposed to have a built-in sense of direction? I mean, she has to be staying in one of the twelve rooms in this hallway. It can't be that hard to find."

"When I saw her at breakfast she didn't exactly look like she wanted to see you," Radu asserted.

"Did you just say that to me?" Harlan squinted his eyes, challenging his friend. "What are you talking about?"

"Look, man, I know you care about her, but give her some space," said Radu. "Suzee told me to keep you away from her. I don't know what's going on, but it must be pretty serious if she's willing to go that far."

"When did she tell you that?" Harlan asked.

"I just saw her a few minutes ago."

"Where?"

Radu sternly backed Harlan into the wall and held him there. He tried to do it as gently as possible, but Harlan still flinched. "Harlan," said Radu. "I don't want to have to do this to you. But if for some reason you're trying to hurt Catalina, or anyone else-"

"Get your hands off me, Andromedan!"

This was an insult Harlan hadn't resorted to using in years. Radu grew more concerned. He had learned long ago that Harlan was all talk, and wasn't afraid to use his strength to put him in his place. But just because Harlan was hardly physically capable of taking on Radu didn't mean he couldn't do serious damage to someone else.

"Let's talk about this." Radu dragged Harlan into his room and closed the door, then barred the door shut with the heaviest object he could find - the bed. Harlan immediately went after Radu, but Radu calmly stopped him by pinning his arms to his sides. "I won't let you go until you calm down."

"Everyone here has gone insane!" Harlan declared.

"Can you just tell me what's going on?" Radu tried not to raise his voice, but he had better things to do with his time than try to reason with an Earther gone mad.

"Okay, okay." Harlan twisted futilely in his friend's grip. "Just let go of me for one second."

Radu let go, and Harlan rubbed his arms. "We can't help you unless you tell us why the hell you've been acting so angry lately," said Radu.

"I just wonder when there's ever going to be anything worth fighting for again!" Harlan threw his hands in the air and pounded them against the wall. "I wanted to honor my father. Now everyone on Earth has gone and destroyed themselves-"

"What?" Radu asked, pacing to the middle of the room to give Harlan space.

Harlan turned to face Radu and sized him up. Was everyone around here too absorbed in themselves to have heard about Earth? "Yeah. Earth's gone. There's nothing there anymore except rubble. But I guess that's none of your concern since...since..." Since what? He couldn't very well say anything to Radu about his home being safe. Radu didn't even want to go back to Andromeda. The Starcademy was his home.

"You should have told us earlier," Radu said softly.

"But how could none of you have known?" Harlan asked. "One of the planets in the Sol system is gone. Destroyed. And nobody else in the galaxy has heard about it?"

Radu flipped on his Compupad and found a news broadcast from Earth. He turned the small screen toward Harlan. The newscaster was broadcasting news just as normal, mentioning nothing about the destruction of Earth. "How is that possible?" Harlan wondered.

"I don't know. But if you would have told us, we would have been here for you," said Radu.

They were interrupted by a banging on the door. "Mr. Band? Mr. Radu?" came Commander Goddard's voice.

Radu removed the bed from the door and let the commander in. His face looked distressed, almost as if he had aged since the last time they had seen him.

"Suzee told me you might be here, Mr. Band," he said. "I was just going to announce to everyone else the news about Earth. I was also going to extend you a permanent position at the Starcademy."

"How did no one else know what was happening?" Harlan asked.

"And where have you been the last few days?" Radu added.

"I've been on the Moon Colony, trying to figure out how to piece my life together," said Commander Goddard. "While I was there I gathered some information about the present situation on our - former - planet. It seems like everything is about to implode on itself and for complete chaos to break out on all the other planets in the Sol system. Earth isn't letting any communication signals out to other planets at all and is trying to maintain an air of calmness. It's also holding all of its citizens hostage on the planet."

"They let me back," Harlan informed him.

"Then you were one of the lucky ones," Commander Goddard said sadly, shaking his head. "The customs officer wouldn't even let me onto the planet. I was lucky to get off the moon. It's absolutely covered with refugee camps and it's just a mess."

"If there's anything I can do-" said Radu.

"Just be a friend," said Commander Goddard, before leaving the room.

"Harlan, I'm really sorry," said Radu, turning to his friend.

"Don't apologize. I'm the one who's been a jerk. And it started before all of this. This was just the icing on the cake."

"Why are you so hard on yourself?" Radu asked. "You used to be so sure of everything you did. We miss that in you, Harlan."

"I don't know," said Harlan. "I don't know." He wanted to tell Radu everything about Suzee, and maybe even about Catalina, and how he had felt like at the end of his story he would dance off having won the love of his life, and instead he found a shambles. He wasn't a Stardog. He wasn't a fairytale hero. He didn't know what he was.

Someone else knocked on the door and Radu quickly pulled it open to reveal Rosie. "Hey," she beamed, "where have you been?"

"Uh, Harlan's here right now," Radu said.

"Oh. Well, Commander Goddard is sending around the message to meet him in the classroom," said Rosie.

"Oh. Right. Yeah. We'll be right there."

Rosie stood on her tiptoes to kiss Radu on the cheek and then retreated back down the hall.

"Whoa, I obviously something," said Harlan.

"What do you mean?" Radu touched the spot where Rosie had kissed him lightly.

Harlan rolled his eyes. "Never mind. I'll meet up with you later."

By the time Commander Goddard stood behind the podium in the classroom where the new graduates had once sat day after day, everyone was whispering about the information they had quickly spread amongst themselves. Miss Davenport had re-materialized and sat amongst her former students, trying not to correct them when they speculated on the current situation.

Commander Goddard cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming, everyone. I know you're all about ready to go home, but I thought I should give you the important news first-hand. I am under strict orders to not let on certain details, so I hope you'll forgive me for the incomplete account. I would also like to remind you that Mr. Band and I no longer have a place to call home, exactly, so I'd appreciate your sensitivity on this issue and advise you not to spread rumors.

"Three months ago, Earth declared itself a disaster zone in its entirety. As of last week, all of its satellites to other planets were completely shut down. The Moon Colony has been controlling everything that comes into or leaves Earth, including information. It turns out Earth has been very carefully constructing a story about itself for the last couple of years, and although the other planets in the UPP caught word of all sorts of tales, no one could piece a story together to form a reliable picture of what was happening. The UPP has known for awhile that Earth has been unstable, but no one outside of Earth knew the extent of the damage until recently.

"In short, Earth has been forcibly revoked from the UPP and Mars has taken over as the head planet in the Sol System. This transition went as smoothly as could be expected, considering a large percentage of Earthers fled to Mars.

"I'll spare you the details of the war, as the official files will probably see the light of day incredibly soon. But as for the cold, hard facts, there has been a mass evacuation underway for what is left of the population of Earth. The estimated numbers now are that eighteen percent of the Earth population died in the war; the remaining forty percent is currently inhabiting the moon colony, twenty percent is inhabiting Mars and its Earth colonies, twenty-five percent are inhabiting Earth colonies elsewhere, five percent are unaccounted for, and ten percent have moved elsewhere in the Sol System. The future of Earth, the planet, is unknown, but we can be certain that its population and its foothold in the galaxy is forever altered.

"Thank you all for listening and I'm sorry I couldn't have shared more positive news with you today. As you may know, the Starcademy has extended an offer of permanent employment to Mr. Band in any of several open positions, and we are trying to locate missing graduates and current students of the Starcademy using all our resources. Some Earthers may seek refuge on your home planets, and I urge you to help them feel welcome."

Commander Goddard stepped down from the podium and left the room.

Everyone remained sitting for a minute, and then they slowly got up and began to leave the classroom. Rosie approached Harlan and told him how bad she felt for him, but no one else spoke to him.

As Harlan was passing Suzee she glanced at him and gave him a concerned half-smile. He sighed and then signaled with his eyes for her to follow him. She waited until everyone else had passed them before she let Harlan lead her down the hall toward his room.

"I know we haven't really talked in awhile," he said, "but I just thought maybe we could make our peace before we went our separate ways."

"I didn't want it to turn out this way, Harlan," Suzee told him. "I'm sorry if you think - you know, I don't even know what you think. I just wanted to protect Catalina."

"I know. I know." Harlan looked down at the floor and shifted awkwardly. "I'm really sorry it had to turn out this way, too."

"You know, I kind of screwed up everything with everyone, too. I think we both were so overwhelmed, we didn't know what else to do except hide all our feelings." Suzee touched Harlan's head fondly. "I hope you can be a Stardog someday."

"I still love you, you know," said Harlan, trying to play it off lightly, but his voice sounded heavy.

Suzee closed her eyes. "Let's not go there now."

"What do you mean 'now'?" Harlan's voice sharpened now. "You think I'm going to let you go that easily? I know you played that game with us, with Radu and me, but I'm not talking about a schoolboy crush here. I'm in love with you, Suzee."

"So you wanted to tell me that you love me?" Suzee asked. "What about Catalina? A couple nights ago you were in love with her, weren't you?"

Harlan shook his head. "I never loved her. I mean, I liked her, but we were kids. You and I have grown up together. We've changed together."

"I can't talk about this." Suzee turned to go.

"Wait. Suzee." Harlan started after her, but she froze in her spot and sharply turned to face him, startling him into backing away. "Hey, I just want to know where I stand with you. Don't leave me like this."

"You are so intent on confronting people. Not everyone hates you, Harlan." Suzee paused and looked in Harlan's eyes. "All right. If you want to know the truth, I was lying when I made that 'friends' agreement with you. I had feelings for you, too. I did."

Harlan squinted at her. "Then why didn't you tell me? Did you really think I just wanted to sleep with you?"

"Well, you were right. How were we supposed to date in space? And anyway, I was afraid that if I told you what I felt, I would get too involved, and what if I had to go back to Yensid suddenly?"

Suzee turned away from Harlan to collect her thoughts. Suddenly her memory flashed to just over a year prior, when she first had heard the distress calls from Catalina. She hadn't understood what was going on except that Catalina desperately needed help, and Suzee couldn't seem to get through to her. Suzee scrambled around the engine room desperately, trying to think of some solution. Suddenly it came to her. She could try something she had never tried before. It couldn't possibly work under normal circumstances, but Catalina was special. She closed her eyes and pictured her best friend with all her might. Then she jumped into her former dimension and into Catalina's mind. She opened her eyes and stared at a cold white ceiling. Catalina was lying in a bed, an oxygen mask over her face. Her thoughts were slightly hazy as she faded in and out of consciousness. But one memory leapt out at Suzee:

"I'm sorry," Catalina was saying to a figure standing beside her. Suzee couldn't make out his face very well, but she could tell Catalina loved him. "I have to see if I can get back. I'm dying. I don't think I can stay."

"I know, sweetie," he said, stroking her cheek. "I care about you more than anything, Catalina. But I can't see you like this."

"I wish it didn't have to end like this."

He kissed her tenderly. "We'll see each other again."

Catalina lay her head on his chest and warm tears ran down her nose.

When Suzee lost her hold on Catalina and found herself sitting back in the engine room on the Christa, she felt her own cheeks grow wet.

She blinked and turned back toward Harlan. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"I...It was nothing. Are you okay?" he asked her.

A sob escaped Suzee's mouth and she buried her face in her hands. "Don't you know how hard it was for me, pretending I didn't have feelings for you?"

"Shh, come on," said Harlan, gathering Suzee into his arms. "It wasn't so bad for awhile, right? We had fun."

"I did love you, Harlan," she admitted.

"Look at me and say that." He pulled her away from him and lifted her chin toward him. She managed to smile.

"You're so cocky," she said. "That's the Harlan I like."

"Maybe we could try it out. You know, once more, but with feeling," said Harlan.

Suzee shrugged out of his arms. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on, what do we have to lose?" he asked. "Haven't we been through the worst already?"

"Okay," said Suzee.

"Really?"

"Let's not play this stupid game, Harlan." Suzee kissed him. "Let's stop dwelling and start living, okay?"


	6. Chapter 6: The End

That afternoon everyone gathered in the classroom to say good-bye to Rosie, Bova and Catalina.

"Hey, you're coming back to visit sometime, right?" Radu asked Rosie. The two of them had been sitting in the corner away from everyone else for the last several minutes, talking quietly.

Rosie sighed. "I'll do the best I can, Radu. You know I'm starting med school in a couple of weeks. You should come visit me, sweetie."

Radu's heart swelled at her term of endearment and he took her hand in his. "I'll really miss you."

Rosie's face lit up with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll talk every day."

He leaned over and kissed her, not caring who saw. "I'm really glad we got to spend the last few days...uh...alone."

"Me, too," said Rosie. She caught a glimpse of her parents walking into the room from the corner of her eye. "Don't worry, Radu, it'll all work out. Have a good time working at the Starcademy."

Radu nodded and stood up with Rosie, walking her over to her parents. After they had left, Radu felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see that it was Harlan and blinked in surprise.

"You didn't hear me come up behind you?" Harlan asked, a smirk on his face.

Radu shook his head. "No."

"You really care about her, don't you?" Harlan asked.

"Well, yeah, I do," said Radu.

"I wonder what it would be like to have a relationship without drama," Harlan pondered. Suzee came up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist, and Radu walked away.

"Is he going to be okay?" Suzee asked Harlan.

"I hope so." Harlan shook his head in disbelief. "Crazy. An Andromedan and a Mercurian."

"You should be happy for them," said Suzee. "They're kind of cute together, aren't they?"

"Hey," said Catalina as she approached them. She stayed a few feet away from Harlan and smiled at him tentatively. "I'm on my way out."

Suzee broke her grip on Harlan and transferred her hug to Catalina. The two stood there for a few minutes, Harlan watching. "I am so honored to be your friend," Suzee told Catalina.

"Don't make me cry," said Catalina. "You'll come to Saturn sometime, right?"

"Of course," Suzee promised her, holding her friend at arm's length and encouragingly patting Catalina's arms. "You are my forever best friend." Suzee turned expectantly to Harlan, who held out his hand to Catalina.

Catalina took his hand and held it for a few seconds. "I'll see you soon, Harlan," she said quietly before walking away.

"Wow," Harlan observed, "it feels so...lonely all of a sudden."

Bova approached Harlan and Suzee. "Well, it's back to Uranus for me," he said, holding out his arms to Suzee. Suzee hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Harlan patted him on the back.

After Bova had left Suzee and Harlan walked back to Harlan's room. He had packed up his things, ready to move into a permanent dormitory at the Starcademy. Suzee would also move into a dormitory in a few days. They both sat on Harlan's bed.

"It's like, after seven years in space, I can't even imagine there are other things out there to do besides fight space pirates and almost crash land into strange planets," Harlan mused.

Suzee laughed and took his hand. "I'm sure we'll find lots of adventures here."

"Yeah." Harlan kissed her on the cheek. "We'll make them."

THE END


End file.
